Til' I Sleep
by RachelVille
Summary: McCoy is hurt on an away mission. Once he is back on the Enterprise, Kirk refuses to leave Bones' side. Can anyone convince him to leave? I'm terrible at summaries...I can promise you that the story is better!


_Here is yet another short fanfic. I am working on a multi-chapter fanfiction, but it will be a while in coming. Here's a story to keep you going for now._

_Reviews are better than candy!_

_-Rachel  
_

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Uhura sighed, just a little, as she entered sickbay for the seventh time in many hours. Spock had been sending her down every hour -on the hour, since Jim failed to turn up after taking McCoy to sickbay. The doctor had been hurt on an away mission, and since his return to the Enterprise, Kirk had not left his side. Supposedly she was meant to "be reporting on the Captain's status for the logs," but she knew Spock's expressions by now, and the slight narrowing of his eyes as he looked up at her from the Captain's chair every hour meant that he was worried. They'd never had the CMO and the Captain disabled in the med bay at the same time, and although Spock was used to taking the bridge when Jim was sickbay-bound, this just seemed to put him on the edge.

The Captain hadn't moved, she noticed as she entered sickbay. He was still shirtless and asleep, curled up on the chair that some kind soul had found for him, clutching Bones's hand like it was some kind of teddy bear. The bruise on his forehead was yellowing, and when he shifted slightly, Uhura noted that he didn't screw up his face in pain anymore. That's good, right? She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to find Nurse Chapel approaching.

"The Captain should really get back to his quarters and sleep there. He hasn't slept since we brought Doctor McCoy back from the planet, so he should rest. It's not good for his ribs, being curled up in that chair."

"It's not particularly good for his ribs to belong to Jim Kirk, I'd noticed," Uhura murmured, and Chapel laughed softly. It was true – Jim's ribs have probably been broken more in his twenty-something years than anyone else's in a lifetime.

"You think he'll let go of Doctor McCoy's hand?" Uhura asked, only half-serious.

Chapel sighed. "No." She hesitated, cocking her head on one side as she looked at the two of them, Jim Kirk and McCoy. "Just think how many hearts I could break at the Academy and amongst Starfleet just by taking a picture of that. Jim Kirk curled up at someone's bedside and holding their hand as if he'll never let go. Our waiting list for the Enterprise would get even longer."

Uhura moved forward, and nudged the Captain's foot, before resting her hand on his shoulder. The Enterprise crew learned quickly never to lay a hand on Jim when he's sleeping without giving warning first. He had an uncanny ability to follow the arm up to the face within the first second of waking, which resulted in bleeding noses for at least three people before word got around. Now, though, he just shifted slightly, and tensed before his eyes opened halfway. He looked disoriented as he saw her, then the blue gaze went to the still-sleeping McCoy before it returned to her.

"Oh. Hi 'Hura," he greeted her, his voice muzzy with exhaustion. "Do you want me at the bridge yet?"

"No, Captain. Commander Spock has set the course for the next mission and we won't arrive for a long time, and everything else is fine. You need to sleep properly, though, Sir."

His head cocked at her in that confused expression that is uniquely Jim Kirk, usually when he's drunk. "Have been sleepin' prop'ly. Least, didn' see any hyposprays." Uhura almost smiled at that, that he thinks that proper sleep is any sleep without a sedative.

"You need to sleep in a _bed_, Captain," Chapel says over her shoulder. "With the lights off, with no noise, and for at _least_ ten hours. You had been awake for thirteen hours when Doctor McCoy went missing, which makes forty-five hours without sleep by the time his surgery was finished. Sleep deprivation is a recognized form of torture, as you well know, and I will not allow the Captain to torture himself when his Chief Medical Officer is also recovering from torture."

Jim somehow managed a smile. "Okay, I'll wait my turn," he mumbled. "You'll tell me as soon as Bones – as soon as Doctor McCoy wakes up?"

He and Chapel shared a long, negotiating look, during which volumes were spoken and Uhura, although expert in a few hundred languages, couldn't seem hear. Finally Chapel sighed. "If he asks for you, someone will come to find you." The chances of Bones not asking for Jim were minimal, and Uhura suspected that foul play would be involved in this one. Jim finally let go of Bones's hand, stretched his legs and stood, only to promptly fall into Uhura's arms.

"Pins and needles. Ow!"' he said as she slung one of his arms over her shoulder and waited for him to sort himself out. Silently cursing the heels of her uniform, she half-drug him to the door, glad at least that his room wasn't far from the med bay. He was heavier than she'd expected him to be, but after a couple of steps he adjusted his step, lightened up, and she realized that of course it was usually Bones dragging him about by an arm, and Bones was stronger than her and so Jim was used to barely having to take any of his own weight if he needed help. When they stopped by the door to his quarters, she waited for him to enter the keycode. He frowned in confusion, and of course, McCoy usually did that too. Finally, he punched in the code and the door slid open.

She'd been in the Captain's quarters once before, and they were less empty now than they had been then, when Jim had only just taken the captain's quarters. Not much, though – she got the impression that Jim didn't own much, although he had collecting gifts from planets that they visited, and things that the crew gave him for their first Christmas onboard. The two-scale model of the Enterprise that came from the officer team was displayed in pride on a place on a bookshelf.

"Bedroom's on the right," Jim told her, as he straightened up a bit.

Jim stumbled over to sit on the bed, started to bend over to remove his shoes, when he suddenly tensed all over, hissing in pain. He stared at the wall for a moment, then sighed. "Please, please don't take this the wrong way, Lieutenant, but I think I'm going to need help taking my clothes off," he mumbled, without looking at her.

She resisted the urge to snicker at how many women would kill to be her right now. She was glad none of them were here though, because Jim needed looking after right now, not being fawned over. "Understood, Captain," she said gently, as she knelt down in front of him, to remove his shoes and socks. "Pants too, Sir?" she asked looking up with a cocked eyebrow.

He was actually blushing in embarrassment as he undid his belt, when she'd bet that any other time he would be grinning his head off by now. Chapel was right; he wasn't doing well at all. He had to lean on her in order to push them halfway off, then he sat back and she pulled them down his legs and off his feet, putting them in the laundry chute with his socks as he gingerly maneuvered himself into the bed, clad only in black boxers. "Sorry, Lieutenant," he said, yawning, as she turned back.

She smiled again – she always seemed to smile around Jim these days, because even if she doesn't remotely fancy him, he's a nice guy once you get used to the cocky attitude (and to think she used to hate him!).

"Not a problem, Sir – only a mercy you don't sleep naked."

His eyes had closed already, but he managed to pry them open again at that statement. "Love tha' wouldn' you." He yawned as he rolled into a more comfortable position.

D'smissed, Lieutenant," he mumbled. "…Thanks."

"No problem Captain." Uhura whispered softly, but Jim was already asleep.

The computer turned the lights off just as she left, and she returned to the bridge to report to Spock – mission successful.


End file.
